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London bus workers vote to accept Olympic bonus

Thousands of London bus workers have voted by 71% to accept a proposed Olympic Games bonus worth more than £570, following last month’s strike campaign.

The vote – in workplace ballots held yesterday (17 July) – follows the first London-wide bus strike since the 1980s and six days of negotiations.

The bus workers will get a payment of £27.50 each time they complete a duty over the 29 days of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Unite says the average number of duties workers will complete will be 21, meaning most workers will get a £577 award.

Full time workers are guaranteed at least £500 if they work all their duties over the Olympic period.

During the Acas negotiations, the transport agency TfL also agreed a 50/50 share of increased revenue over the period of the Olympic and Paralympic games compared with the same days in 2011.

Prior to last month’s strike, bus workers were the only London transport workers being denied a reward for their extra effort over the Olympics.

Peter Kavanagh, Unite’s regional secretary for London, said: “After almost a year long campaign, bus workers finally have a fair deal which recognises their contribution to keeping London moving over the Olympics.

“Major disruption to London’s transport network and international embarrassment in the run-up to the Olympics could have been avoided if TfL and the employers did the right thing when Unite first approached them almost a year ago.

“Instead bus workers had to fight tooth and nail to get recognition.

“Strike action is always a last resort but for those who say it achieves nothing we say: just look at London’s bus workers.

“They would have been offered nothing by their employers and TfL would have done nothing unless bus workers took action to force them round the negotiating table.”